When it comes to drywall corner bead, there&#;s an ongoing debate surrounding metal vs. paper. Is one really better than the other? It&#;s a hot topic that has been raised inside the truck cabs of drywall contractors for decades. There are a variety of factors and uses that come into play when determining which corner bead material is genuinely superior.
For more information, please visit Wusheng Hardware.
Which corner bead material is best for your home or project? Is there an alternative corner bead material that you should prefer over metal or paper? Having all of the facts is essential before starting your drywall project.
A corner bead is a product used to finish the outside corner of drywall. Corner bead protects the delicate, unfinished edges of your drywall and delivers a straight, clean, finished corner for your wall.
Additionally, your corner bead guides your taping knife while applying joint compound to your outside corner, and helps to ensure smooth and flat finish work.
Corner bead comes in various materials, each providing its own unique advantages and disadvantages. In the battle of metal vs drywall corner bead, it&#;s important to examine and understand the differences between the two. However, it&#;s even more important to take a look outside of these two popular options to discover the material that&#;s ultimately the best for drywall corner bead &#; vinyl.
Let&#;s take a closer look at these three options to better understand what they all bring to the table and why vinyl is the top material contender for drywall corner bead.
Metal is the traditional material used for drywall corner bead, but does the fact that something has been used for a long time make it the best option?
The outside corners of your walls are prone to impact during the chaos of daily life, and metal corner bead is highly susceptible to denting during impact. Once dented, you cannot repair the metal corner bead, and you must replace it.
In places where moisture is prevalent, like bathrooms and basements, metal corner beads can be susceptible to rust and may compromise the structural integrity of your corner.
Metal corner bead can often cause nail popping and cracking in your finished wall.
During transport, whether from the manufacturer to the supply house or from the supply house to the job site, metal corner bead is often damaged, bent and dented. These unsightly imperfections can make a straight corner extremely difficult, if not impossible, to make.
Often referred to as &#;paper-faced,&#; paper corner bead was developed to combat the nail popping and cracking that plagues metal corner bead.
Paper-faced corner bead uses a similar metal profile as its traditional counterparts but replaces the metal nailing flange with paper.
Unfortunately, paper corner bead has its own flaws. Commonly seen peeling off of walls and causing unsightly cracks, paper-faced corner bead over metal materials can be even more susceptible to damage than traditional metal.
For more information, please visit EXPANDED CORNER BEAD.
When struck, the paper-faced corner bead&#;s metal profile can still be dinged or dented and can cause irreversible damage to your outside corner. Even worse, this impact can often tear or detach the paper holding the corner bead to the wall, creating hideous cracks and splits.
Refuse to participate in the battle of metal vs. paper drywall corner bead? We don&#;t blame you, especially since there is currently a better alternative on the market. Make the smart choice and switch to Trim-Tex vinyl corner bead &#; never again will you have to deal with the headaches caused by metal and paper corner beads that break, bend and fail. Check out these three top reasons why Trim-Tex&#;s vinyl corner bead is the best option to get the job done right the first time.
In , the cost of steel hit an all-time high, making metal corner bead a pricier part of a drywall finishers&#; inventory than ever before. These skyrocketing prices meant that, for the first time, a whole lot of drywall pros we&#;ve spoken to have started searching for an alternative to metal corner bead, and began making the leap to vinyl corners. And even as steel costs have started to slowly come back down to earth (although, with a high degree of volatility, who&#;s to say steel prices won&#;t soar back upward again at a moment&#;s notice?), these vinyl converts haven&#;t looked back.
Trim-Tex has more than 200 profiles of vinyl drywall solutions, which can be a bit overwhelming if you aren&#;t already a vinyl corner bead aficionado. If you&#;re looking for an alternative to metal corner bead and aren&#;t used to vinyl &#; and don't want to dive into the deep end right away &#; we recommend you get started by using our Closed Angle Rigid Low Profile corner bead. This Closed Angle corner bead is an easy transition from metal with less headaches during the adjustment period.
Why Closed Angle? Let&#;s dig into what this unique bead is and how you can make the leap to vinyl easier.
The Closed Angle variation on our Rigid Low Profile Corner Bead sports an 81-degree angle, rather than the standard 90 degrees. It was first created to help finishers work with imperfect framing, where the angle on one end of a corner might be slightly wider than the other.
Like with a metal corner bead, a vinyl Closed Angle bead allows the finisher to push the bead in wherever you need to &#; whether the angle is 81 degrees or a full 90 &#; without buckling or flaring out when you&#;re stapling it in.
Essentially, you&#;re getting all the benefits of a metal corner bead in these kinds of areas, with none of the drawbacks. (Closed Angle is also available in an extra-wide Jumbo form for larger details.) The vinyl bead is far more impact-resistant, far more easily repaired if damage does occur, won&#;t rust and each bead is made from at least 70 percent recycled materials. It&#;s the best of both worlds!
This similarity to the behavior of metal is what made our Closed Angle corner bead a hot commodity when the price of vinyl started becoming less expensive than metal. For instance, in Florida right now, we&#;ve been visiting many residential and multifamily jobsites to show how they can use our Closed Angle vinyl bead as a replacement for their usual metal materials. These visits have resulted in about a 75 percent conversion rate.
Why? Well, for some lifelong metal corner bead users, there can sometimes be some growing pains in the shift to vinyl beads. Vinyl corners may be superior to metal ones in many ways, but they don&#;t behave exactly the same.
If you hand someone who&#;s only ever used metal a stick of Trim-Tex&#;s standard 90-degree vinyl corner bead, chances are they&#;ll be used to metal&#;s rigidity and firmness, and will press the bead too hard into the corner during installation. Too much pressure during this phase could cause the bead to wiggle and twist while you&#;re working with it, and can cause the mud legs to flare out, giving you an imperfect finish with visible flanges under the mud.
On the other hand, using the Closed Angle corner bead just feels like installing metal. Its rigidity simplifies installation for long-time metal fans &#; it holds its form without giving you any issues. When you press it into the wall, you can feel that tension and won&#;t over-push it. For this reason, beyond Closed Angle&#;s functionality as a solution for imperfect framing, it can act as a great set of training wheels for frustrated finishers who want an easy alternative to metal corner bead.
If you&#;re a finisher fed up with the limitations of metal, start here, and pretty soon, you&#;ll be singing the praises of all kinds of vinyl corner bead. Get a look at Closed Angle Rigid Low Profile corner bead and its Jumbo variety for yourself by hitting the button below to request a free sample.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit CORNER J BEAD.